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Credit: Unknown

Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the Boston Strangler, is shown in March of 1973.

Credit: Angela Rowlings

Criminologist Donald Hayes greets Casey Sherman, whose aunt is believed to have been killed by the Boston Strangler, at Boston Police Headquarters today.

Credit: Herald File

Mary Sullivan

Credit: Herald File

Alleged Boston Strangler victim Mrs. J. Delaney

Credit: Herald File

Alleged victim of the Boston Strangler Patricia Bisette

Credit: Herald File

Helen E. Blake - alleged Boston Strangler victim

Credit: Herald File

Ida Irga, alleged victim of the Boston Strangler

Credit: Herald File

Anna Slessers - alleged victim of the Boston Strangler

Credit: Herald File

Sophie Clark - alleged victim of the Boston Strangler

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The body of Albert DeSalvo will be exhumed now that DNA tests have linked DeSalvo to the 1964 murder of Mary Sullivan, the last of 11 women whose deaths were attributed to the Boston Strangler, authorities said today.

The body of DeSalvo, the self-confessed Boston Strangler, will be exhumed tomorrow to confirm a "familial" match with DeSalvo in the Jan. 4, 1964 rape and murder of 19-year-old Sullivan in her Charles Street apartment, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said at a press conference today. The match was made based on DNA sample from a bottle discarded by one of DeSalvo's nephews, Conley said. Once DeSalvo's body is exhumed, investigators expected to find an exact match when the evidence is compared to DeSalvo's DNA, he added.

Attorney Elaine Whitfield Sharp, who represents the DeSalvo family, said they object to disturbing DeSalvo's remains. The family, Sharp said, maintains that Albert DeSalvo did not kill anyone and the family had offered to cooperate with authorities.

Sullivan, who moved from Barnstable to Boston just three days before her murder, has long been believed to be the last of DeSalvo's alleged victims.

DeSalvo confessed to the killing but was never charged because his confession was ruled inadmissable in court. He was sentenced to life on unrelated convictions for armed robbery and sexual assault, only to be stabbed to death behind bars in 1973.

The Boston Strangler terrorized the Hub from 1962 to 1964 and was blamed for the silk-stocking slayings of 11 women in their teens to age 75.

Sullivan's nephew, Casey Sherman, wrote "A Rose for Mary," in 2003, casting doubt on DeSalvo's claim that he murdered Sullivan.

Sherman today said questions will always remain about his aunt's death, but the announcement "brings an incredible amount of closure to myself and my mother."